going. "cnn saturday morning" continues right now with the top news stories that we're watching. from cnn world headquarters in atlanta, this is "cnn saturday morning." >> looks like it's going to be a pretty bad storm. >> sandy is barreling north. it could leave millions of people without power and the damage to the campaigns could be catastrophic. of the 50 states electing the president, these are the states that could swing either way. all morning, we're putting the undecided states of america in focus. ♪ take a load off he's a music legend. graham nash explains why he's defending the alleged wikileaks informer. rise and shine, take a nice deep breath because you've made it to saturday.

good morning, everyone. i'm christi paul in for randi kaye. so glad to have your company. 10:00 on the east coast. 7:00 on the west. i want to begin with suhurrican sandy, which has regained strength. one area that's really starting to feel the effects is the coast of north carolina and that's where we have george howell. in the last couple of hours, have you seen conditions change there, george? >> christi, good morning. we're starting to feel a little bit of the rainfall from this system. a lot of that rainfall has remained offshore, but here where we are along the outer banks, we are in position to feel those first bands as they move closer to shore. also the winds are picking up out here. the winds have been right around ten to 20 miles per hour, not too bad, but that situation will change and the best evidence of that -- just take a look out there. you can see what's happening there on the waters, getting rougher and rougher as the storm moves closer to us. right now, this area remains

under a tropical storm warning and a flash flood watch, and we also know that 40 counties here in north carolina along the eastern side have all declared states of emergency, just keeping an eye on what happens as the storm moves in. >> i understand you have some video of people surfing, and this was just a little while ago, is that right? >> reporter: you know, the thing about that, it's just not the safest thing to do. people are out there doing it. the thing with this storm, as it moves in, we're talking about winds that can get up to 50, 60, 70 miles per hour. you just don't want to get caught off guard out there with that. so you see the video of that happening. not the safest practice. you do see some people there along the beach, in fact. the weather gets worse, this will not be the place to be. >> that's a live picture there. some folks walking on the beach. walking on the beach is one thing. getting in the water is an

entirely different animal. george, you and the crew stay safe there, okay? >> thank you. >> it's a little indicative of what they're experiencing there, as you can see the breakup. our camera kind of going in and out a little bit. that's the first time that's happened, so it shows us how conditions there are deteriorating a little bit. let's bring in alexandra steele, because we just saw north carolina and what it's like there. what about everybody else? >> whether you're in the outer banks like he is or in up state new york, you're going to feel the effects of that. the swath of that, it is massive in the expansiveness. tropical storm force winds expandin440 miles out from the center. here it is. hurricane sandy off the coast. this entire frame from the gulf all the way to the central atlantic seeing the swath of this thing. the diameter of it is huge. right now, it is off the coast of florida. as we said, a hurricane, and it is a category 1. typically this time of year when

we have a hurricane or tropical development in this area, we see it move, of course, with the jet stream and it moves north and northeast and then fishes out to sea. what's happening with this one? what's so different about it? why is it not just going east? because this area of high pressure has developed. and this area of high pressure with the clock wise flow around it is pushing it back and back westward. what we're seeing here is a powerful hybrid of a storm developing. it's got the moisture from the tropical entity. it's got the energy from this area of low pressure, which in essence is almost like a nor ea -- nor'easter in the winter. this is a projection of the rain coming up the coast, potentially about ten inches. look on the backside of this down the spied ne of the appalachians. how about ten to 20 inches of snow? power outages will be huge as well. and airport delays. whether we see them, which we

most likely would. 30 and 40 mimp gu-mile-per-hour. we're looking at five days of some very tough travel. >> thank you for the heads up. we appreciate it. this storm is already having an impact on the presidential cam pains. particularly in some key swing states. both vice president joe biden and mitt romney have cancelled campaign rallies in virginia beach that were scheduled for this weekend. the obama campaign says biden's schedule was changed so police and emergency crews could stay focused on helping people with that storm. first lady michelle obama as well cancelled a campaign rally. this was in another critical swing state, in new hampshire. it was scheduled for next week in durham, but that campus is closing for that storm. sandy's political ramifications don't stop there either. take a look at this picture that we put together for you. it shows some of the campaign layers hitting the east coast. as we mentioned, campaign events

across the country being delayed or cancelled already. we've told you to expect huge travel delays as well. alexandria just mentioned that. in addition to impacting millions of travelers, though, the campaigns may have to make some last-minute maneuvering themselves. and finally, a major storm hitting the most densely populated section of the country, could certainly die verge local and national media coverage, which means less visibility for those candidatese local and national media coverage, which means less visibility for those candidates. there's more. there are also fears that the storm could prevent some people from voting altogether. customers are warned that sandy could knock out power for seven to ten days, and that could include election day. power outages could affect electronic voting, while flooding and extensive damage could keep people from making it to the polls in the first place. forecasts show wind alone could cause about $3.2 billion in

damage. power or not, anyone who's been able to cast their vote early doesn't have to worry about electronic voting, obviously. paul steinhauser joining me now live from pensacola, florida. that's one of the swing states. is that one of the reasons that you're there, because early voting kicks off today in the sunshine state, i'm assuming? >> reporter: exactly. mitt romney here for three campaign events, including the one behind me in pensacola. early voting kicks off today in florida. eight days of early voting in florida. that's a little less than four years ago. the legislature here in florida shortened the early voting time period. we start eight days through next saturday. and coming with that, a brand-new campaign commercial from the obama campaign playing here and some other crucial early voting states that talks to early voters. take a listen. >> in here. it's just you. no ads, no debates, just you. so think about this. mitt romney's plan rolls back

regulations on the banks that crashed our economy. medicare voucherized. >> reporter: i think it's fair to say that four years ago early voting helped obama win the white house. the same thing is being said this year, that a lot of voters will come early and vote before election day. this is our new poll out in ohio. among those voting early, you can see the president has a big advantage there, 58% to 39%. mitt romney has the advantage. the romney campaign says they're doing much better than john mccain's campaign. >> just getting back to florida real quickly, you mentioned mitt romney's events there, one exactly where you are at the moment. but what is he going to be focusing on specifically in florida? who is he targeting? >> reporter: he's going to be targeting early voters for sure, but also he's going to be targeting those remaining undecided voters. also one of the other missions

today is to kind of excite the base, the republicans and conservatives here in florida and get them out to the polls. he's going to be joined in all three stops by senator marco rubio, the freshman senator here, a very popular republican. he's also going to talk about the economy. that's really his wheelhouse. yesterday's gdp report was pretty favorable. the obama campaign saying this is proof that the economy is starting to rebound, but mitt romney in a big speech in iowa on the economy said just the opposite. >> today we received the latest round of discouraging economic news. last quarter, our economy grew at just 2%. after the stimulus was passed, the white house promised that the economy would be growing at 4.3%, over twice as fast. slow economic growth means slow job growth. and declining take home pay. that's what four years of president obama's policies have produced. americans are ready for change. for growth, for jobs, for more

take-home pay and we're going to bring it to them. >> hearing mitt romney say that word "change" a lot lately. ten days until election day. >> so glad you're there to walk us through it. thank you so much. we're just getting started on the presidential race. coming up, what state is really going to have the biggest impact. and what voting group is being misrepresented. we'll get that for you. plus, a musical legend makes a public show of support for a soldier surrounded by controversy. graham nash joins me live. ♪ never been so much in love but with those single mile travel cards... [ bridesmaid ] blacked out... but i'm a bridesmaid. oh! "x" marks the spot she'll never sit. but i bought a dress! a toast... ...to the capital one venture card. fly any airline, any flight, anytime. double miles you can actually use. what a coincidence? what's in your wallet? [ all screaming ] watch the elbows ladies.

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morning, from florida to ohio to new hampshire. i want to bring in a cnn contributor, maria cardona, and amy holmes. maria, if you had to pick one state as the most critical, which would it be? >> it's so important, because obviously everybody is talking about ohio. and i do think that if the president wins ohio, it will be almost impossible for mitt romney to win the white house. but i also think that a lot of the swing states in the southwest, like nevada and colorado, will be critical if the president doesn't win ohio because he does have an easier path to 270 than mitt romney. i think that the big thing that people are missing and pollsters are missing is the latino vote. and i think that we need to add at least three to four percentage points to president obama's numbers nationally, and especially in the swing states in the southwest because they are not gathering the strength of the latino vote out there.

>> we're going to talk a little bit more about that in a moment, because you're right about that. amy holmes, pick a state for me first. >> i've got to agree with maria that ohio is the state. it's the conventional wisdom, no republican president has won the presidency without ohio. i'll be honest with you, your producers asked me to look at the electoral map last night. i watch bbc detective shows, like a lot of americans. i think we're looking at this race nationally and we're looking at national trends. i think it's very telling that the president of the united states was the first sitting president to cast his vote early in person. i think that president obama is looking at his own numbers and is seeing that the tide is shifting against him and a very big part of the president's strategy is to get that early voting out now in favor before november 6th. before his support is eroding even further. >> where is his support? i guess i should say let's talk about the women's vote when we talk about eroding numbers.

polls have shown mitt romney has basically neutralized the advantage president obama enjoyed back in 2008. do you think we'll see that? will that be reflective on election day? amy. >> if i could jump in, yes. i don't believe the poll that show shows that mitt romney has closed that gender gap. it shows that mitt romney is up with men, but you do see the female vote eroding for president obama. if you look at the election results, in 2008, president obama was up 13 points among women, but by the mid-term, women were voting evenly between the gop and democrats, and as we discussed on this show many times, the female vote is not monolithic. if you look it a by age group, older, married women are more likely to vote for the gop. >> maria, let's get back to the impact of the latino vote.

it may not be getting accurate attention. how much bigger do you think it's really going to be than what is projected? >> i think quite a bit bigger. in fact, what we're seeing is that latinos are going to come out in record numbers this year. in every poll that we have seen of latino voters, president obama is above 70%, and mitt romney does not break 23%. and you have republican pollsters saying that if mitt romney doesn't get at least 38%, something that his own campaign is saying, of the latino vote, there's no way that he can win. in 2010, people had harry reid on par with sharon engel going into election day and he ended up beating her by five to seven points, and why was that? because all of the pollsters were missing the latino support that harry reid had. and i think that that is absolutely going to be the case,

especially in these southwestern states. i think you need to add at least four percentage points nationally, and in these states to president obama's numbers. i think it's going to be part of his firewall along with the women's vote. >> so amy, what should romney be focusing on? should he even reap out to latinos at this point with so little time? >> of course, he should be reaching out to all voters, and that's where he's foe cushion his message. i think it's interesting that you see that the president's campaign message is entirely negative. it's attacking his challenger. whereas mitt romney is trying to broaden his support by talking about the economy, and that's the number one issue for voters going to the poll. i think it's also interesting that mitt romney is expanding those battleground states. we're seeing more and more states being added to contestable states, including wisconsin, pennsylvania, colorado, nevada, maybe even iowa, maybe even michigan. so mitt romney is actually expanding the field on which he's playing, while president obama is going negative and basically just trying to create

the fire wall maria discussed earlier to be able to ensure his presidency. >> maria cardona and amy holmes, thank you so much. great conversation this morning. a level playing field in the workplace? women want it. studies say it's still not happening. we're going to dig deeper into an issue that's been front and center in the campaigns in recent weeks. tridion safety l which can withstand over three and a half tons. small in size. big on safety. that was me... the day i learned i had to start insulin for my type 2 diabetes. me... thinking my only option was the vial and syringe dad used. and me... discovering once-daily levemir® flexpen.

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senate majority leader harry reid has been released from the hospital after getting into a car crash in las vegas. the accident happened when vehicles in his motorcade crashed with a civilian vehicle.

the 72-year-old is in good condition. the gender pay gap is very real, but very wide. with women having the voting power to swing this presidential election, it's an issue that really resonates on the political stage. cnn's athena jones has more. >> while most polls show the president leads among women voters, some suggest that lead may be tightening. >> why is it that there are 3.6 million more women in poverty today than when the president took office? >> reporter: more women than men voted in 2008, and issues important to women have been front and center in 2012. from abortion and contraception, to equal pay. in what new ways do you intend

to rectify the inequalities in the workplace. >> reporter: the candidates failed to address that question head on in the second debate, instead offering generalities. >> women are increasingly the breadwinners in the family. this is not just a women's issue. this is a family issue, this is a middle class issue. >> reporter: one phrase that quickly took on a life of its own. >> they brought us whole binders full of women. >> reporter: still there's evidence the pay gap is real. a new study shows female college graduates earn just 82 cents for every dollar their male counterparts make their first year out of college. >> the pay gap has real implications for women. it could add up to a half million dollars over a lifetime. >> reporter: men still earned 7% more than women a inn the same field a year after graduating, suggesting discrimination is still a problem in the workplace. this georgetown senior is worried about what the gap could mean for her as she tries to pay

off more than $20,000 in student debt. >> as a woman, these statistics say that i'll have a much more difficult time and i think that's something that will stay in the back of my mind. >> reporter: among the recommendation to women trying to close the gap, learn something about negotiating. studies show men are more likely than women to push for a higher salary. still, this study co-author says that won't solve everything if women are offered less from the start. she says employers and lawmakers need to increase salary transparency and strengthen laws. and the candidates should pay more attention to the issue. >> in this election, it's all about jobs in the economy. but for women, it's actually not just about getting a job, but it's about getting a job with fair and honest pay. >> with just days to go in the 2012 campaign, time is running out for equal pay to get equal play. athena jones, cnn, washington. so just a heads up for you if you live in south carolina, you may be a victim of identity theft. ahead, the damage from the latest cyber attack affecting

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it is certainly good to see you on this saturday. i want to show you five of the stories that we're really watching for you this morning. first of all, sandy is a hurricane again. kind of ping-ponged a little bit today. but forecasters are predicting that it will turn into a destructive superstorm that could impact an area from north carolina all the way up to maine. delaware, virginia, maryland could get up to a foot of rain from this storm. cnn weather estimates damage from sandy will be $3.2 billion, and that's just from wind. states of emergency have already

been issued in the district of columbia and at least four other states. this morning, the leader of al qaeda released a new video with a new threat. i want to show here an older video, he is now calling on muslims worldwide to kidnap westerners. the threat is apparently in retaliation for . the new video is more than two hours long. for those of you in south carolina, social security information for millions of residents has been stolen in an international cyber attack apparently. 3.6 million social security numbers. 387,000 credit card numbers may have been breached in an attack that happened earlier this month. governor nicky haley said it was "not a good day for south carolina." a new twist to tell you about in the story of a nanny suspected of killing two children in new york.

they now think she began stabbing herself as the children's mother entered the bathroom and saw the bodies in the bathtub. police initially thought she had done it before the mother arrived. both children, ages 2 and 6, had been stabbed repeatedly. the mother had been at a swimming lesson with a third child who was unarmed. ortega is in critical, but stable condition under police watch right now. this time last year, he was italy's prime minister. now silvio berlusconi could be headed to prison. he was sentenced to four years for tax fraud. berlusconi told cnn the verdict was a "unacceptable political sentence." he is expected to appeal, by the way. hurricane sandy slowly moving toward the eastern seaboard and making her presence known. rough seas starting to build along the carolina coast. our george howell is there on the scene. a little closer to the water

this time. you're getting brave, george. >> yeah. you know, keeping an eye on what's happening out here. obviously the storm surge is a concern out here. also when you think back to what happened with irene, there was concern about flooding on the sound side here of the outer banks, so, you know, this area is prone to flooding. that's something that everyone's keeping a close eye on. also the winds out here are picking up. they've been right around ten to 25 miles per hour off and on. the rain off and on. but the situation out here will deteriorate as the day goes on. this area remains under a flash flood watch and a tropical storm warning. so people are taking stock of that. they're getting supplies. a lot of peel pl-- people planng to ride this storm out. we talked about some of the people who hadn't boarded up their windows. it turns out there's a mix of people there. are some people who have homes here who don't live here, so those homes have not been

boarded up. some people who plan to ride the storm up. that's what we're seeing here. some who have left the area. because when you think back to what happened with irene, irene was more of a direct hit. people saw a lot of damage in this area. this time they're expecting a lot of wind, a lot of rain, so that's what they're all watching out for. >> george, thank you so much for giving us a picture of what it looks like right now. we appreciate it. that, of course, the scene on the beach in north carolina. what can everyone else expect? i want to bring in meteorologist alexandra steele. i'm wondering why is this storm so unusual and so potent? >> there's a lot of factors. one, it's a massive storm. the sheer size of it. but really, the major aspect, we've got a tropical storm on our hands. of course, it's a hurricane. but also, we've got moisture with this. but then what will happen, we've got an area of low pressure that will develop north and west of this. these two areas of low pressure

will fuse together and become just an incredibly powerful hybrid storm. likes of which we've never seen before in. 25 years that we've generated these computer models, we've never had this scenario set up. so here's a look at where it stands right now. center of circulation off the florida coast. you can see the size of this circulation goes all the way from the gulf of mexico on its western extent to the central atlantic on its eastern extent. so who's feeling it right now? we're going to talk about where it's going to go. right now the first wave of rainmaking its way on through the outer banks down through charleston, south carolina, the waves beginning to move. the winds beginning to pick up. the first dams of heavy rain coming in. here's the computer model of where this will go. here comes the area of low pressure moving north. what we're going to see is late monday night, somewhere between washington, d.c. and new york city, center circulation moves ashore. north of that is where the worst surge will be. but look what happens. again, because of this fusing of

almost a nor'easter, this area of low pressure, coupled with this tropical storm, which is a hurricane, together we've got cold air -- how about ten to 20 inches potentially of snow through the spine of the appalachians. concurrent, we should see ten inches of rain on the outer banks of north carolina. so a lot of energy here. biggest impacts, the inland flooding. we're going to talk about that all the way from western new york, to western and central pennsylvania. coastal erosion, power outages will be huge with this. we talked and already heard about the potential for seven to ten million people to be without power, not for a day or two, but the potential for seven to ten days. so power outages, of course, flight delays for days potentially from boston to washington. >> i don't think i've ever heard "hurricane" and "snow" in the same sentence, talking about the same event. it just seems so unusual. alexandra, thank you so much. hurricane sandy, we're getting

new numbers about how many lives it claimed in the caribbean. forecasters think it could be a historic storm. once it does hit the northeast, as alexandra was saying. we're getting estimates for damage and predictions for power outages as well. she talked about that. but nick valencia is tracking the storm by those numbers specifically. how bad does it look? >> these areas that are potentially going to be affected by hurricane sandy are poised and prepared for its landfall, but everybody is a little anxious, as you can imagine. i spoke to the national guard and they're saying they had 61,000 personnel scattered up and down the eastern seaboard, prepared for hurricane sandy's landfall. they also have 140 helicopters on standby as well, in the event that they have to do some search and rescue operations. a lot of people in the northeast very anxious about this potential landfall, but as we mentioned, 22 deaths so far. there are some other media agencies reporting as many as 40 deaths. cnn going with 22. we spoke to the puerto rico police department earlier today, they confirmed a man was victim

to some tropical storm conditions there, and as a result of hurricane sandy, has died. just to reemphasize, for those of you that are powering through storm, they can expect to be without power. as many as ten million people expected and estimated to be without power. that stat coming to us from johns hopkins university. this is going to be a sustained power outage between seven and ten days. maybe up to two weeks that people will be without power. a lot of fears and concerns. we're three day ace way. this thing hasn't even made landfall yet. >> there's no telling if something could happen. but that whole seven to ten days without power, that makes me wonder if there will be mass exodus from some areas. >> just to push this ahead, we'll have better numbers and a better idea of what the national hurricane center is predicting at 11:00. >> all right, thank you, nick. he is a member of the rock 'n' roll hall of fame. but graham nash is using his voice for more than singing. supporting the soldier accused

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rewrite history? that's what mitt romney will have to do if he doesn't take ohio on election day. no republican has ever won the white house without winning the buckeye state. the race for the state is tight, too, but if there's an edge right now, it belongs to the president. cnn's john king breaks down the numbers for us. >> so that's a narrow ohio lead for the president, but there's yet another poll showing the president holding on to a small, but persistent lead in ohio. let's take a closer look at just why it's happening. one reason is this. the president gets most democrats. governor romney gets most republicans. the president at the moment has a narrow lead, but a significant lead among independents. there's also an age gap, if you will. if you want to look at the vote in ohio, likely voters in our poll, those under 50, a big 18-point advantage for the obama-biden ticket over romney-ryan. this encouraging to the republicans, their leading among

older voters, but they need the margin. governor romney would need that margin to be a little bit bigger than six points to expect to carry the margin. ohio, the auto bailout tends to help the president do better among white, working class voters. among white men, the president is over 40%. you might say well, he's getting beat. if the president is over 40% among white men in an central state like ohio, he's likely to carry the state. watch that number as we get closer to election day. if the president can stay above 40 among white men, he's likely going to win ohio. and then the question is if the president wins ohio, can governor romney defy history and win the white house? no republican has ever won without the state of ohio. so if you give this one to the president, the president could actually get over the top just by staying in the midwest. a win in wisconsin and a win in iowa, plus ohio changing nothing else in the map would put the president over the top right there. so let's come back and say is there a scenario for governor romney to win. can he still win the white

house? the answer is yes. not impossible. but it is improbable. governor romney would have to win florida and the state of virginia. he would have to win the state of colorado. nonnegotiable on those for governor romney. even if he won new hampshire and even if governor romney won the state of nevada, he would still have to win one of these midwestern battlegrounds. this is the most republican of these midwestern votes. ten in wisconsin, paul ryan's state. six in iowa. governor romney would have to win one of them. if the president is winning ohio, his team is also confident he'll be winning wisconsin and most likely iowa. but as you see, it's not impossible for governor romney, but you'd have to say it's improbable. >> thank you, john king. he is a music legend. graham nash is using his star power to shine the spotlight on accused wikileaks source bradley manning. i'm going to ask him why in a live interview next. s.

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wikileaks claims it has released more than 100 classified or otherwise restricted files from the united states department of defense that relate to u.s. military policies relating to detainees. they say they'll continue to release more documents over the coming month. one man who made international headlines after he was accused of leaking to the group is bradley manning. his trial will not begin until next february, but over his last two years in prison, there are some who have tried to draw up support on manning's behalf and that include a music legend who is my guest today. joining me now from los angeles, singer, song writer and member of the rock 'n' roll hall of fame, graham nash. thank you for pencilling us into your schedule. >> you're very welcome. and i haven't been to sleep yet, so i'm all right. >> why does that not surprise you? you rock 'n' rollers. last night, i know you did perform at this event that was organized by the bradley manning support network and i know it

helps raise legal funds on behalf of the accused soldiers, so we're wondering why did you feel the need -- what prompted you to get involved in this? >> i became an american citizen about 30 years ago. i believed that this country was a nation of laws. that was supposed to apply equally to everybody. in this country, you're entitled to a speedy trial, and it's usually about 100, 120 days from the day of the arrest. bradley manning has been in jail for 900 days. imagine if that was your son. imagine being kept in terrible conditions. so we're not even applying our own law. i mean, the military code of justice, section 8:13, article 13, no punishment before trial. the united nations came up with an investigation of this case. and decided that, indeed, for at least the first ten months of

his jail time, that bradley imagine was being tortured. and so, to me, we're either a nation of laws or we're not. >> there was an op-ed last december that you wrote, and i want to read just part of that to our viewers. you said regardless of whether you think manning is right or wrong, innocent or guilty, hero or villain, saint or sinner, he's a human being and should be treated as such. so you've mentioned the length of time that he's been in, and the conditions that he's been in. is there anything else that concerns you most about the way that he's been treated since his arrest in 2010? and how do you know how he's been treated? >> because it's well-known. i mean, all you have to do is search the web and you can find out exactly how he's being treated. one of the things that -- i mean, i will support the president, i supported him in 2008. my partners david and steven and i worked very hard to get obama

elected in 2008. and i will support him. and i will vote for him this year. because i think that the alternatives is a nightmare. however, i do disagree with several things that the president has been stating. i mean -- >> such as? >> which military judge will go against the commander in chief when the commander in chief, obama, declared publicly on television that bradley manning had broken the law. who is going to go against the commander in chief? come on. let's get real here. >> well, i know -- you bring up a point that leads me right into my next question. his case heads to court in february. how confident are you that he can get a fair trial? >> there's not going to be a fair trial here. >> let me ask you this. why won't there be a fair trial? because there may be a lot of people like you who support him. >> do you think that being

tortured for ten months is going to result in a fair trial? a fair trial by military judges, who will not go against the opinion of their commander in chief? does this sound fair to you? >> graham nash brings up some very interesting points. and we appreciate so much you taking the time to be with us, graham. thank you very much. >> you're very welcome. >> sure. take good care. moving on to something that obviously is a little lighter, political zingers, courtesy of those who do it best. some of the best lines from the late night come comedians coming up. oh no, not a migraine now.

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you know what the height of election season also means? a season gold mine for comedians. here are the funniest late night laughs from this week, starting with jimmy fallon on mitt romney's rumored beauty routine. >> a source close romney just revealed that he gets a spray tan before major campaign events. i guess that explains romney's new secret service code name the mituation. yesterday, obama visited the swing state of ohio for the 17th time. people are like oh, hi -- oh. >> donald trump called president obama and said i'll give you $5 million if you can release your college records and your passport. here's $5 million, release your college records and your

passport. and i said hey, don, i'll give you $5 million if you release that thing on your head. >> experts say the entire 2012 election could come down to just eight states. the states are confusion, dismay, depression, apathy, shock, disbelief, despair, and anxiety. we're going to switch gears here. there's been a lot of ping-ponging today. sandy is back to a hurricane again. forecasters are predicting that it's going to turn into a destructive super storm that could impact an area from north carolina all the way up to maine. delaware, virginia, maryland could get up to a foot of rain from this storm. cnn weather estimates damage from sandy will be $2.3 billion. that's just from the wind. states of emergency have already been issued in the district of columbia and at least four states. so any minute now we're expecting to get an update from

sandy on the national weather service. nick valencia has been tracking some of the numbers all day. and the thing is, what an update you have on the death toll. >> yeah, just a tragic update to something already we've been focusing on all morning. the tropical storm turning into a hurricane, downgrading, coming back. now we're hearing of more deaths located in the caribbean. we reported earlier this hour, 22 deaths. that number now up to 42. our international desk spoke to the civil protection agency in haiti. they say there 29 haitians have lost their lives as a result of hurricane sandy. sustained winds of about 75 miles per hour, a category 1 hurricane. it's very intense conditions for those that are in those areas that have been affected by it. 61,000 national guard troops spread up and down the seaboard. they've only deployed to locations that have declared states of emergency, places like d.c., pennsylvania, new york, maryland. so they're in those areas right now -- they also have helicopters on standby in the event that they need to conduct

some search and rescue operations. lots of anxiety. george howell in north carolina. 40 counties declaring states of emergency up and down that eastern corridor. interstate 95. we're not out of this just yet. three days away from landfall. >> thank you so much for the numbers. stick around with us. we have much more ahead in the next hour of "cnn saturday morning," which starts right now. from the cnn center, this is "cnn saturday morning", october 27th, 2012. i hope it's been good to you so far. i'm christi paul in today for randi kaye. meteorologists are predicting hurricane sandy will cause at least $3 billion in damage. we're tracking what it's expected to become what they've dubbed a superstorm. ten days until election day. find out which candidate is making three stops in florida

today. and one can of this high energy drink has more caffeine than a six-pack of coke. but did that play a part in a teenager's death? sanjay gupta digs for us. we'll begin talking about hurricane sandy as it's regained that strength. the latest information is just coming in to us now, so want to get meteorologist alexandra steele for more on that. what have you just learned? >> 11:00 advisory is still out. still a hurricane. still maximum sustained winds at 75 miles per hour. but the gusts now up from the 80s to 90-mile-per-hour wind gusts. we have an incredibly powerful hurricane, not only because it's so big as well. the western trajectory of this is in the gulf of mexico. the eastern side of it is way in the central atlantic. so center of circulation right now off the florida coast. the situation with this is why is this so interesting? what's different about this hurricane? well, here's the deal. right now, here's the center circulation.

typically this time of year, we see a hurricane develop, not out of the question, and it moves northeastward, but then, of course, it picks up the jet stream. the jet stream throws it eastward so it just fishes out to sea. that won't be the case this time. why? because of this area of high pressure. we have high pressure over low pressure. it's called a rex block. so what happens is this hurricane is pushing into the high pressure and the high pressure turns it to the west and turns it on shore. so with that, we're going to watch this, the center circulation, move on shore late monday, maybe overnight into tuesday. and then what happens right here is it stalls -- look at the time stamp. tuesday, wednesday, thursday. hasn't made a lot of coverage. certainly hasn't moved a lot. so the potential here is to dump -- how about an inch of rain an hour for a day, a day and a half. catastrophic. devastating. so inland flooding just one of the scenarios that really could be incredible with this storm. so what's happening is we've got this tropical feature. of course, it's a hurricane.

but then it's becoming this hybrid storm, because there's this area of low pressure to the north and west, and it's more like a nor'easter, so combining the two in the fusion of the tropical nature with the low pressure is really making this a very powerful hybrid. so here's the model guidance taking this hurricane north, bringing it on shore, somewhere between new york city and washington, the center of circulation. just north of that is where the worst storm surge will be. look on the backside. there's so much energy with this area of low pressure. of course, the area of low pressure, that's kind of like the nor'easter. look at this snow down the spine of the appalachians. ten to 20 inches of snow. conversely, we could see ten inches of rain on the outer banks of north carolina. so inland flooding, not only, of course, on the coast. up state new york, western new york, west of pennsylvania as well. if this thing really slows down, tuesday, wednesday, and into thursday. coastal erosion. widespread power outages. that really could be the calling card of this in the end.

so many power outages. we're talking boston, new york, washington, west of cincinnati. so ten million without power, not out of the question for days and days and days. also air travel. when we get to these 60-mile-per-hour winds, they close the airports. boston, washington, laguardia, dulles, cincinnati. the potential for air travel could be impacted. so myriad impacts from the air to the ground to inland to coastline. i mean, this is just a monster. >> no kidding. well, at least we're getting a good enough heads up that people can hopefully make some alternate plans. thank you so much, alexandra. the east coast isn't wasting any time gearing up for this storm. she just mentioned it. washington, d.c., pennsylvania, maryland, new york, they've already declared states of emergency. virginia has warships that are tied up to their peers. sailors are getting sandbags prepared and national guard members are in place and ready to jump into action if needed. and then moving up along the

jersey shore from cape may to ocean city, businesses are boarding up and putting up sandbags to get ready for sandy. north carolina is also gearing up for this thing. a total of 40 counties there are under a state of emergency. george howell joins us from kill devil hills. it's still some miles offshore, i know. but we're really seeing some deteriorating conditions now, even from last hour, it seems. george, how different are you feeling now than you were say an hour or two before? >> we are starting to see changing conditions here. we're starting to see more of the rain showers in this area, the torrential rain is yet to come. as you mentioned, a lot of those heavier rains are still offshore. this is the area where we will start to see it first as it moves inland. also when you talk about the winds, the winds right now about ten to 20, sometimes 25 miles per hour. not too bad. but that is changing as the day moves on. and you can see the effect of what's happening behind me. these are rough waters, getting

rougher and rougher as the day goes on. this area where we are on the outer banks remains under a flash flood watch and a tropical storm warning. people are taking heed of that, getting supplies ready. many people choosing to ride this storm out. and we do know that at least 61,000 national guard troops are scattered throughout the coastline from this area northward, just to be prepared for whatever this storm has to bring. >> george, i was watching yesterday an analyst saying this thing is going to be so much more potent than irene was even last year. are people talking about that there? >> >> reporter: right now, it seems to be the slow-moving nature of this storm. and it's a big storm. you have this long range of strong winds. i heard a few minutes ago. wind gusts of up to 70 and upward miles per hour. also here along the outer banks, when you talk about irene, there

was flooding on the sound side here when irene came through. they're worried about flooding there. everybody is keeping a close eye on the storm surge, on the amount of rain that this storm brings in today. >> we saw just last hour surfers out there and people walking on the beach. has that subsided? >> i haven't seen it out here within the last hour, but when you talk about the rip currents out there, when you talk about the winds that are coming in with this storm, it's just not the smartest thing to do. it's not the safest thing to do because you don't want to get caught off guard with the power of this storm as the storm moves inward. >> george howell, take good care, you and the crew there. thank you so much. ten days before the presidential election and you were just seeing what hurricane sandy is packing right now.

mitt romney had a rally in virginia beach set for sunday, has opted to cancel that. the vice president was supposed to go to the same town. joe biden cancelled so local law enforcement could focus on what the storm may bring. this tuesday, first lady michelle obama was headed to the university of new hampshire. that too is not happening. again, because of the forecast for sandy. let's get back to mitt romney and the president, who are campaigning today. at opposite ends of the east coast. mitt romney is triple stumping, hitting pensacola, kissimmee, and land o'lakes. the storm could have an impact on early voting specifically. paul steinhauser is live in pensacola, florida.

how much of an impact could the storm have on these campaigns? >> reporter: both campaigns are monitoring the situation. you mentioned two events. a biden event and a romney event. we could see some other cancellation as we go on into the weekend and into monday and tuesday. but as you mentioned, everything right here. mitt romney three campaign events here in florida today. he'll be with marco rubio, the senator from florida, popular republican. those events continue on. both campaigns realize that the storm, especially if it's very serious could have a huge impact on how the candidates travel and how they delegate their get out of the vote efforts. keeping a very close eye on this. but, of course, both campaigns also say that the safety of people in the storm is much more

important than politics. if this storm is serious, it's a lot of damage, of course. how president obama handles the storm could be scrutinized and could be the heart of this campaign. >> i was wondering about that, how reaction and resources available after this storm might avice president elect this campaign as well, particularly obviously for president obama. i know that both the president and mitt romney are really reaching out to young voters. in fact, yesterday the president gave an interview to mtv. talked about some real serious issues including student debt and stressed his support for cutting off federal financial aid to students that leave with high debt. but he also talked about some lighter topics. >> i had to go buy an album or a cartridge. >> cartridge? >> yeah, that's old school. >> i'll send you some music, too. some music you should tune in to. >> yeah, there's some groups like, you know, the roots and

other folks who -- when i talk to them, they've done some really good stuff. but you can probably educate me. it's true. i've been working a little hard right now, i haven't updated my ipod. >> i'll hook you up. >> i cracked up at the cartridge. how is romney courting the youth vote? >> four years ago, then senator bausm did very well with younger voters. was one of the reasons he won the white house. but mitt romney is not ignoring those young voters at all. take a listen to what he said last night on the campaign trail in ohio. >> if you're a college student looking to graduate sometime, maybe next spring, you know you've got, what, $10,000 or $20,000 worth of loans that you've got to pay back and you know how heavy a burden that might be, but by the way, because of all the spending of this administration and prior administrations, you also have about $50,000 of government debt. yeah. and what's the president doing

about that? why he keeps on adding more and more and more debt? i don't understand how a college kid could vote for barack obama. >> i think it's fair to say the president will disagree with that. but mitt romney really thinks his economic message will resonate with younger voters. one other thing you mentioned early voting. early voting getting under way today right here in florida. eight days of early voting. >> so good to see you today, paul steinhauser. thank you. we're keeping a close eye on hurricane sandy. here are some of the pictures. the east coast is preparing. we're going to tell you what they're doing. seems they haven't been moving much lately. but things are starting to turn around because of business people like you. and regions is here to help. with the experience and service to keep things rolling. from business loans to cash management, we want to be your partner moving forward. so switch to regions. and let's get going. together.

want to share some live pictures with you from nags head, north carolina. we've seen a lot of those white caps get a lot more intense in the last couple hours here. want to turn now to the election. less visibility, of course. definitely not what the candidates are looking for,

particularly in pivotal battleground states like north carolina. john avalon is traveling on the cnn election express. i know that you're in winston-salem, north carolina, right now. what are people there saying about the race? >> reporter: battleground bus tours here in win stop sal -- winston-salem. president obama won it four years ago by a razor thin margin. here's what voters are saying. >> given governor romney's prior experience in massachusetts, i think he will be more moderate perhaps than as appeared in his early campaign, when he was actually trying to get the nomination from the prun parrep party. >> i guess i made my decision after the debate. the level of professionalism wasn't there for obama.

>> i didn't even have to think about it. even though i'm a registered independent, i don't find anything about governor romney believable or authentic. >> i voted for president obama, because i do see the change. i do see us digging ourselves out of the hole. >> so there you have it, just a sampling of the voters we've been speaking to. very tight. the voters here just as closely divided as the polls show north carolina is. but you see that focus on the economy, questions of character, and really a discussion about mitt romney heading back to the center. all on the forefront of folks' minds here. >> interesting to hear why they were making their decisions, too. i'm wondering with hurricane sandy slowly edging inward there we know the president and his opponent have spent millions of dollars trying to get the word out. now that could change as we shift to covering this

hurricane. does he expect any effect with voting, especially early voting? >> early voting is the key. it's a core strategy for both campaigns. we're already seeing a start-up effect. yesterday the state put out an advisory saying two counties would be suspended today. they'd be shut down out of an abundance of caution. early voting continues in the rest of the state. that's very important for people to understand. if you're in those coastal townties, early votow counties is suspended. the storm is having an impact to that extent today. >> all righty. john, enjoy your trip to your next pit stop. we appreciate you. >> thank you. so virginia, as you know, is one of the states that president obama flipped in 2008. but the most recent cnn poll of polls, which tracks a variety of polls, shows the state as solidly purple.

cnn's john king reports on how both the presidential campaigns hope to win virginia by winning over voters in the north. >> urgency in a place once reliably red. mitt romney's path to the white house runs through virginia and to win it, he must run strong in the fast changing suburbs within an hour's drive of washington. >> it's all about northern virginia. there have been so many people who have lived in to northern virginia, particularly from the northeast, from democratic areas, that they have turned a solid red state into a purple state. >> recent polls show a dead heat. a republican pollster likes the trend line. >> if you look at the dozen polls in virginia, taken before the first presidential debate on october 3rd, obama was ahead in all 12. if you look at the eight polls taken after the first presidential debate, romney was ahead in six out of the eight and it's now a dead even tie.

>> to prove its 2008 win here was no fluke, team obama knows it needs to wrap a margin of 200,000 votes or more in the northern suburbs. if it delivers, it can ruin governor romney's night. >> the epicenter of this outcome is going to be right here in virginia. >> democratic congressman jerry conley knows romney's more moderate tone of late is aimed at the suburbs. he's betting it won't work. >> i think there's a trust factor that with that. my constituents remember the republican primaries. they don't suffer from amnesia. >> the president has deep suburban report, but there are some cracks. mona phillips says she will vote republican for president as she did last time. >> from the get-go, mr. obama promised so many things that i didn't believe he could do it, and he has proven that he

couldn't do it. >> reporter: robert stevens is an independent and obama 2008 supporter. >> it was something different for the country, something that hadn't happened before. so i got caught up in that a little bit. but i think he's a disappointment. >> reporter: you don't like what you got, but you're not sold on the alternative. >> absolutely not. at this point, i don't know who i'm going to vote for. >> reporter: living in a battleground means there's no escaping the ads or the get out the vote effort. >> i kind of hang up the phone. i don't want anybody shoving stuff down my throat. i thought i would have been there by now. but i will be by election day. . >> reporter: tense final days for a newcomer to the world of presidential battlegrounds. >> i know you've heard over and over the race for the white house rides on who wins ohio. we're going to have the latest

poll results from the buckeye state, taken just the past week.

analyst after analyst says o-h-i-o will decide who will be the next president of the united states. the latest poll shows obama up by four points. some see that as proof romney can win. a statement both campaigns are now using to get out the vote in ohio. will it work? here's cnn's gary tuckman. >> reporter: ohio, the electorate bull's eye of this political season.

mitt romney working the crowds in columbus. while barack obama pumped up his supporters in the evening in cleveland. both men receiving wild ovati ovations. while the crowd reaction is great, will that enthusiasm drive them to the polls on election day? even among the fervent obama supporters at this rally this is a common theme. >> more excited four years ago or more excited today? >> i'd say -- honestly, i was more excited four years ago. >> reporter: meanwhile, fervent supporters at the romney rally often have their own nuanced motivations. are you more motivated by wanting obama to lose? >> wanting obama to lose, most definitely. he let the whole country down. >> reporter: candidates appreciate any kind of support. but the more unconditional and enthusiastic that support is, the more likely that voter will

go to the polls, and voter turnouts on november 6th will be critical. romney's strategists have the concern that the perceived lack of their candidate's competitiveness could ultimately lead to less enthusiasm and therefore a lower turnout. so the message being emphasized to the gop base is that romney can win. and that makes the message from obama's strategists all the more interesting. in order to increase democratic enthusiasm, they have the very same message. romney can win this. a new obama ad is basically trying to frighten democrats into making sure they vote. reminding them of the disputed 2000 election. >> 537. the number of votes that changed the course of american history. >> florida is too close to call. the difference between what was and what could have been. >> a new poll shows that 59% of obama voters and 58% of romney voters are very enthusiastic. but the abc news "washington

post" poll indicates obama's enthusiasm numbers were higher four years ago at 68%, while romney's numbers are considerably better than john mccain's, which were at 38 four years ago. the cheering was deafening at this large obama rally in cleveland's lake front, but many obama supporters say it feels different than four years ago. >> it's seriously just a different kind of excitement. it's more sort of tempered in reality that this is a campaign, not a crusade. >> thank you! >> reporter: on the gop side, anti-obama sentiment remains a key component of pushing supporters to vote. much the same as four years ago. >> i think it's more important to get obama out. i do. i absolutely think it's more important to get obama out. >> reporter: clearly, mitt romney and barack obama have some complicated relationships with their supporters. but no doubt, neither candidate will care as long as the supporters make it to the polls. gary tuckman, cnn, cleveland.

>> and making it to the polls could be tough, as we watch hurricane sandy. not just how it will affect things politically, but we're going to talk to you about your travel plans. some cancellations coming up. stay close.

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hurricane sandy teasing us just a little bit right now as we take a look at this live picture from atlantic city, new jersey. the eye could hit close to there, so we'll be watching that area over the next couple of days. for those of you who are traveling, sandy is expected to have a major impact on land and in the air. right now, amtrak says all of its trains are operating on schedule. crews will monitor tracks throughout the northeast. and in the meantime, several

airlines are revising their change fee policies ahead of the storm. so check with your specific carrier to get some updates throughout the next couple of days. we want to check sandy's track right now, how strong it's going. meteorologist alexandra steele with us. in the next couple of days, what's standing out to you about this storm? >> we just talked about the center of circulation. the circulation as a whole is so massive that where the center of circulation comes ashore is important for storm surge, but the circulation itself is so mammoth that the breadth and depth of those impacted is huge. the western side of this is here in the gulf of mexico. the eastern side of it is all the way in the central atlantic, so there's our hurricane. 75-mile-per-hour maximum sustained winds. gusts to 90 now. usually this time of year, hurricane moves northeastward and it gets hooked up with a jet stream and gets pushed eastward. not the case.

that's what's making this so anomalous. there's an area of high pressure to the north and west, and because of the clock wise flow around the high, it's pushing the hurricane to the west. so really, all the computer guidance really in accordance that this is what's going to happen. center of circulation expected. monday overnight into tuesday to come ashore somewhere between new york city and washington, d.c. but then we're going to watch it move northwest, and inland flooding. western new york could be a factor. right now, just the western periphery of this with the rain coming ashore from the carolinas down to charleston. we could see on the outer banks of north carolina up to ten inches of rain. conversely, on the western side, this down the spine of the appalachians, watch this model of what will happen. look at this snow down the spine of the appalachians. one to two feet of snow, potentially. it's just so energetic, buzz what we have is really a hybrid storm developing.

but moisture from the tropical d development for really just a powerhouse of a storm. >> thank you so much. more details we want to share with you now on the story of a nanny accused of murdering the kids she cared for. new york police say the nanny began stabbing herself when the mother entered the bathroom where her kids' bodies lay. that's a new twist here. yoselyn ortega is accused of killing leo and lulu. the father, a senior vp at cnbc was on a flight home when his wife discovered those murders. so stunning. let's give you a heads up here. major data breach in south carolina may involve as many as $3.6 million victims. governor nicky haley says a revenue system server has been hacked and exposed tax return

information from as far back as 1998. haley also says an international hacker is responsible for this. the state is offering credit protection services for those possibly impacted. we've been talking about the millions of people along the east coast who are about to get hit by this monster storm. we're going to tell you more about some of the numbers we're learning, too. new death toll numbers and what does that mean for what's coming. 2 ♪

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norfolk, virginia, not looking so bad right now. that could change in the next couple of days. they are feeling the effects of hurricane sandy, though. this hurricane is expected to collide with a cold front and that's what could turn it into a destructive superstorm. it could have a devastating impact on several states along the eastern seaboard. nick valencia is tracking this by the numbers, and the numbers are alarming. >> these fears and anxieties among the residents that are in these areas, they're materializing at this point. we just got an 11:00 a.m. advisory from the national hurricane center. it's still a hurricane. it's been going back and forth all day. right now we've got 75-mile-per-hour sustained winds. that enough for a category 1 hurricane. and just to give you an idea of how -- the big anticipation of the national guard, the effect and impact of this hurricane, 61,000 personnel stationed up and down the eastern seaboard.

they've already deployed a hall of fame of national guard troops to the areas and states that have declared states of emergency, places like d.c., virginia, maryland, and new york. in north carolina, 40 counties so far in north carolina under a state of emergency. that's up and down the interstate 95 corridor. most potential danger to life are these storm surges. they can get as high as 20 feet, as long as 1,500 miles. also, ten million people -- estimated ten million people will be without power. that's really causing a lot of concern. it's going to be a sustained period of people without power, seven to ten days. the big number we got earlier today was the rise in death toll. earlier we were reporting 22 deaths. the death toll is now up to 42. that gives you a sense of what we could be dealing with. all of these deaths concentrated in the caribbean for now, and

people hope that it stays that way. this is going to be an expensive storm. already $3.2 billion in estimated damage. it's very, very expensive so far, and the estimates are only going to get higher. >> thank you so much, nick. we appreciate it. did you see them? mitt romney, president obama walking together. how can this be? the answer is simple, if you look close enough, right?

on the streets, mitt romney standing next to barack obama?

it happened in manhattan. or did it? cnn's alina cho uncovers a strange presidential sighting. >> reporter: imagine the chaos. >> appreciate your vote. >> reporter: president obama and governor mitt romney together at the cross roads of the world. >> i'm going to win. >> let's bring the cameras over here is. that cool? >> see you november 6th. >> baby holding. >> i think he's a democrat, don't you? >> reporter: wait a minute. you've been all over the map. >> you're all over the map. >> i love big bird. >> reporter: these aren't the real candidates. >> good afternoon. >> my goodness. >> reporter: meet lewis ortiz. a dead ringer for president obama. jim gossett, who has multiple presidential personalities. >> i'm hoping to be another bush or bill clinton. >> reporter: but the race is tight, and these two know

campaigning at one of the busiest places on earth is a good thing. >> here comes the storm. are you the naked cowboy? >> it's president barack hussein obama. >> if i'm elected president, the naked cowboy will get pants. >> reporter: if one naked cowboy isn't enough -- >> obama! yo mama! >> reporter: there's always room for two. it's times square, new york, a blue state, where the president is more popular than the governor. >> i can't even get anybody to take a picture with me. >> this is my town. jay-z wrote a song about that. who's gonna write a song tonight? this guy. >> reporter: kidding aside. the presidential impersonation business can be lucrative. >> what do you charge? >> for a show with four characters, up to $34,000. hey, the president's going to get a million for his speech. >> it's overwhelming, especially when you don't have proper security, you know? especially when you're not really the president, you know?

i know i look like him, but -- >> it's amazing, isn't it? >> i said oh, my gosh! is it really him? >> the same. >> reporter: there's even a big bird moment. >> this guy doesn't understand it. >> reporter: they'll know who wins november 6th. >> this is the worst case of cartoon pandering i've ever seen. >> alina cho, cnn, new york. "cnn newsroom" starts at the top of the hour. fred is with us. >> so much going on. we've got a full day as well. richard and avery are always with us. this time i've got an interesting case that involves yoga and public schools. some parents say it shouldn't

happen even after this taking place. downward facing dog for three years. there's been a half million-dollar grant. because of the storm named sandy. is it a tropical storm? is it a hurricane? as the day continues to carry on right now, it is still a hurricane, but we're watching, and we'll be updating you throughout the day. the national weather service will be updating us about letting us know exactly the track that it is taking, so this sandy has really potentially kind of interrupting a lot of the early voting that we've been seeing. it's been in some jurisdictions kind of record early voting, but now you've got to wonder if this

is going to impact it. >> those people that wanted to early vote, if they would vote on the actual day. it will be interesting. a little girl is dead. her parents are suing and the target of their lawsuit is this high energy drink. could you be overcaffeinated to death? sanjay gupta talks to me about what may have happened.

want to share some medical news with you now. the parents of a 14-year-old girl who died after drinking two monster energy drinks are suing. the makers of the drink say they're not to blame. i spoke with dr. sanjay gupta this week about what's in this drink and whether the fda needed to warn the public. what did doctors say, first of all? >> well, with regard to this girl, there was a report, they said that she had an underlying condition.underlying

condition, something that causes collagen problems in the body and caused problems in her heart. she had something known as a valve regurgitation. they say the cause of death was caffeine toxicity. they said it was a lot of caffeine on top of this condition. standard advice is if you have a heart condition like this avoid excess doses of cap feign but that's what they concluded here. that's what the coroners concluded. >> if we're talking about that much caffeine, how much was it in this drink? >> it's quite a bit. let me give you a little bit of a frame of reference here. if this were a 24 ounce can, this is the drink, that would be equal to about seven cokes or just as many pepsi cans. >> at a time? >> at a time. in this case what we know about this girl, she took one one evening or one night and within a 24-hour period took another one. that's i think sort of concern. caffeine doesn't hang around your body that long, but there are several different things in these energy drinks that i guess

cause concern. >> in your medical concern, is 24 hours, you know, they were spaced far enough apart, do you think that really would have been enough to kill her? >> it's hard to know. but in this situation even one of these cans is seven cans. they have these other substances, tore rene, verron na, the supplements that can be caffeine like. they're not caffeine, but they can behave like caffeine. could they possibly be all acting together? >> i mean we know there have been five deaths total, but the fda never warned the public. why is that? >> well, what the fda will say is look, before a warning, an official warning like that, you are to draw some cause and effect. that hasn't been determined yet. this is an ongoing lawsuit. people can report adverse events, that's part of the reporting process. if you think something has happened to you as a result of a product you can report that, but it doesn't mean the fda automatically iraq shoos a warning until they can prove that themselves.

>> sanjay gupta, thank you so very much. >> any time. coming up at noon, fredricka whitfield will talk more about this case with the legal guys, today at noon right here on cnn newsroom. women still make less money than men in the work place. what's it going to take for women to close the gender pay gap. first, a woman car mechanic opened her own shop with new ideas about how to fix the industry. gary tuchman be shows us how she got started in her own business. >> reporter: carolyn left college with plans to work in a non-profit organization. and then her car broke down. >> i was like, you know, have i learned anything? i ended up taking night classes because i wanted to know more and discovered i loved the work. it was like a mental oil change where i could just forget everything i was told i was supposed to do and actually pursue something i really loved. >> reporter: hybrid and electric cars became her passion. she couldn't find a j working on them.

i decided to open that shop. there was a better way for me to get the experience i wanted but i had new ideas about how to translate the benefit of the hybrid car. being green, high tech and cutting edge. >> reporter: carolyn tried to make her shop clean, open and inviting. customers kept coming back. >> i'm sure many people looked at us luscious garage with plants and a nice seating area and didn't see the auto repair. what's nice is to stand here in five years and say we made it because we've been able to do our job well and that's why we're going to continue to grow. the wheels of progress. seems they haven't been moving much lately. but things are starting to turn around because of business people like you. and regions is here to help. with the experience and service to keep things rolling.

from business loans to cash management, we want to be your partner moving forward. so switch to regions. and let's get going. together. see life in the best light. [music] transitions® lenses automatically filter just the right amount of light. so you see everything the way it's meant to be seen. experience life well lit, ask for transitions adaptive lenses.

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by 2012 you think women would have caught up with men when it comes to the gender pay gap. that's not the case. stas testics show discrimination in the work place is a real problem. how can women close the gap? cnn's athena jones shows us. >> you can choose to turn the clock back 50 years for women. >> reporter: women, they're key to winning the white house. >> or in this election you can stand up for the principle that america includes everybody. we're all created equal. >> reporter: while most polls show the president leads among women voters, some suggest that lead may be tightening. >> why is it that there are 3.6 million more women in poverty today than when the president took office? >> reporter: more women than men voted in 2008 and issues important to women have been front and center in 2012.

>> pro life, that's a lie, you don't care if women die. >> reporter: from abortion and contraception to equal pay. >> in what new ways do you intend to rectify the inequalities in the work place. >> reporter: the candidates failed to address that question head-on in the second debate. instead offering generalities. >> women are increasingly the breadwinners in the family. this is not just a women's issue, this is a family issue, middle class issue. >> reporter: one phrase that took on a life of its own. >> they brought us whole binders full of women. >> reporter: still, there's evidence the pay gap is real. a new study shows female college graduates earn just 82 cents for every dollar their male counterparts make their first year out of college. >> the pay gap has real implications for women. it can add up to over $500,000 over a lifetime. >> reporter: even when career choice and hours worked were taken into account men still earned 7% more than women in the

same field a year after graduating suggesting discrimination is still a problem in the work place. this professor is worried what the gap could mean for her as she tries to pay off more than $20,000 in student debt. >> as a woman these statistics say i'm going to have a much more difficult time. >> reporter: among the recommendations to women trying to close the gap, learn something about negotiatinnegot. studies show men are more likely than women to push for a higher salary. still, study co-author corbett says that won't solve everything if women are offered less from the start. she says employers and lawmakers need to increase salary transparency and strengthen laws and the candidates should pay more attention to the issue. >> in this election it's all about jobs and the economy, but for women it's actually not only just about getting a job, but getting a job with fair and honest pay. >> reporter: with days to go in the 2012 campaign, time is running out for equal pay to get equal play. athena jones, cnn, washington.